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At times I wonder if the Arcade Racer has lost some of its charm, more specifically I wonder if the need to simplify the controls for iOS users has resulted in a genre that has managed to mute an already toned-down sport too far. Race illegal: High Speed 3D by Apetrus and Chillingo tries every trick in the book to wow the player in to continuing to play, but the end result is something that lacks the energy it tries to portray.
Sparks, blurs, revving engines, flames and whining turbos…

Updates of a classic arcade game can be a tricky balancing act. You're trying to entice fans of the original so the gameplay needs to be very similar, yet to bring in new fans, it has to be different enough to warrant a look. Frogger Decades comes very close to this balance but ultimately falls a bit short.
The game is based around the jumping mechanic which is handled by swiping on the right side of the screen. Want to jump in a certain direction, just swipe there and Frogger will ho…

(The App Store is currently not allowing downloads of this App - a video will be made as soon as it's available again.)
The original Rally-X was an interesting concept. Let a rally car loose in a maze, where it has to collect all the flags to proceed, while avoiding the evil rally cars chasing it. Now seeming that Namco Bandai are remaking all their arcade classics for the iPhone platform, we have Rally-X Rumble. It's the same game under some new graphical flair, with an emphasis on a…

Some may remember Nyarlu Labs for their somewhat bizarre, but incredibly fun and unique title Magnetic Shaving Derby. I'll give you a moment to let all of the memories to flood back as you remember a disheveled pixel-art face and other various random objects. All good? Forget-Me-Not is the latest from the developer and while the game may look a lot less bizarre, the combination of Pac Man and Rogue-like elements makes for an experience that's hard to put down.
Players must control the…

Arcade games aren't exactly difficult to find on the App Store and at times it can be hard to stay excited as you jump from one title to the next due to their generally repetitive nature. Ironically, abstract titles that strip gameplay elements to the absolute minimum can be insanely addictive and the rise of genres like the endless jumper/runner are a testament to their elegance.
2Bit by Industrial Brothers isn't so much an endless title or a platformer or a shooter, but an abstract…

Although many Bomberman games by Hudson have a strong single-player focus, the multiplayer aspect has always felt like its true strength. Strangely, Bomberman Dojo is a purely single-player experience, though instead of simply playing against AI opponents or basic monsters you'll be pitting your skills against 50 puzzling stages in order to prove you're the best Bomberman around.
For those not yet initiated, Bomberman pits you against enemies placed in a maze-like screen that's litter…

It's never too long before the 'interactive movie' genre of games get a chance to shine again on newer media devices and after the previous porting of Cobra Command, developer Revolutionary Concepts has moved on to another Arcade title by Data East - Road Blaster.
In what essentially amounts to a plot based around revenge, you'll take control of a lean-mean fighting machine as you attempt to take down the biker gang that killed your wife. Much like any interactive movie, the controls…

By now veteran iDevice gamers have come to expect the odd arcade title (or three or four or a dozen) that offers little more than a simple gameplay concept to tide them over during spare moments of the day. This isn't exactly a bad thing given that you're playing on a mobile device, but even when you're only eating snacks it's easy to fill yourself up. Kosmo Spin by Simogo Handelsbolag fits in to the snack-sized arcade category, though its immensely charming style and challenge based q…

Endless jumpers in one variety or another are a common occurrence on the App Store, though now and then a lesser used variation based on rotating platforms pops up in games like Jump o'Clock and Oddy Smog. Astronut by The Iconfactory puts its own spin ('ha ha') on this variation in more ways than one and players will need to explore the cosmos with their character while avoiding dangerous planets and alien creatures out to stop you.
The basic gameplay consists of moving between planet…

Wispin by Grumpyface Studios could almost be considered prototypical as far as arcade games go for the iPhone and while there are some minor details to be buffed out, it provides a handy benchmark for games yet to be released.
'But,' I hear you cry, 'WHAT is Wispin?'. Wispin is a cute bird-like creature that has to deal with multi-chromatic blobs, however the only way to defeat them is to match their color before running in to them. Players can control their character either via tilt…

Silverfish by Chaotic Box looks like a twin-stick shooter and feels like a twin-stick shooter, so you'd be forgiven for dismissing it as just another twin-stick shooter... But it's not. With merely one finger you'll dispense destruction and chaos while attempting to either scavenge for morsels of food, bide your time to become the predator and not the prey or to simply attempt to survive against the odds.
Instead of mucking around with virtual d-pads, analogue sticks or tilt controls,…

'Tap Disc' (formerly Flying Discs) by Legal Radiation Team isn't your standard arcade game. Your aim is to help capture or save people by capturing their vehicles in an appropriately colored zone, but timing these captures isn't easy and things only get more complicated once deadly hazards are introduced.
By tapping on the screen you'll create a large circular colored zone that starts out white, but then slowly blinks between orange and red before disappearing. These correspond to the…

In Sigma by BigStack Studios, you'll experience three-match gaming in an amazingly unique way by needing to manage both sides of your screen to pile up massive combos. While similar in appearance to the recently released ColorSWING with its ponderous logical experience, Sigma changes things up and keeps things fast-paced in this arcade style puzzler.
Each side of the screen can be quickly rotated up or down to expose a row in the middle which can shoot across a square from the side yo…

It hasn't taken much time for DJArts Games to create a sequel to their Egg Drop Arcade series and on the surface of it you'd have to be forgiven if you thought that not much has truly changed in the last two months. Thankfully Egg Drop Arcade 2 has been given more than a colorful resurfacing, sporting 24 new levels that are as fun as they are quirky to enjoy.
Much like the original game, gameplay revolves around obtaining a set amount of tokens by dropping an egg through a series of o…

The Glowing Void by Assyria Game Studio is an interesting spin on the classic arcade game Qix with players being tasked to fill the screen as much as possible while avoiding deadly bouncing balls. It's a basic premise that's given a great twist by allowing players to also flip their iPhone to change the gravity, potentially trapping the bouncing balls for bigger bonuses.
'Filler' mode requires players to fill up at least 70% of the screen, much like Qix and its variants. Touching and…